CT's Minimum Wage Will Increase To $16.35 In January

CONNECTICUT — Minimum wage workers in Connecticut will receive a pay increase, come the first of the year.

The minimum wage will rise from the current rate of $15.69 an hour to $16.35 on Jan. 1, 2025. The hike is an effect of a law signed in 2019 that connects the state's minimum wage to economic indicators, specifically the percentage change in the federal employment cost index.

Under that law, the minimum wage is required to be adjusted each year based on the U.S. Department of Labor’s calculation of the employment cost index for the twelve-month period ending on June 30 of the preceding year. The commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Labor is required to review this percentage change and announce any necessary adjustments by Oct. 15 of each year. Those adjustments must take effect on January 1 of the following year.

On Friday, Connecticut Labor Commissioner Danté Bartolomeo reported that the employment cost index increased by 4.2 percent over the twelve-month period ending on June 30, 2024, accounting for a $0.66 increase to the state’s minimum wage that will become effective with the start of the new year.

"Minimum wage increases help ensure that no Connecticut worker gets left behind," Bartolomeo said. "The majority of minimum wage earners are women, and many have families. Giving them this increase is good policy that supports Connecticut workers and the local economy."

This will be the second time the state's lowest paid received a little something extra in their paychecks since the law was passed. Connecticut's minimum wage jumped from $15.00 per hour to $15.69 per hour on Jan. 1, 2024.

Continuing forward under this law, Connecticut workers and employers can anticipate that announcements will be made by Oct. 15 of each year declaring the change in the minimum wage that will become effective on Jan. 1 of the approaching year.